Yay Stress!

Hello Family!!

This week was really good but kind of a blur. It feels like a long time but a short time at the same time...time. A lot happened and I have a short time and will do my best. :) First an update on Javid! He is getting baptized next week!!! I am so excited!! He came to church yesterday despite being sick again and was just beaming. He is so excited and was all smiles when we met with him. It is so good to see people with that desire to make a covenant with God. He is going to be a really great member of the church. Yay Baptism!

As for the rest of our teaching pool, it is pretty empty. We are teaching two part member families but its slow going. One needs to be less busy and the other needs more of a pull from his wife and from the ward. We are working on finding solutions to their concerns but it isn't an easy fix...sigh. It's fun but is stressful.

In other stressful news, at the Leadership Training last week I was asked LAST minute to participate in the musical number. It went really well and was relatively stress free: not too many missionaries, not too much time to worry about it, two other Elders singing. Easy. So when the call came two days later for me to sing in Zone Conference on Wednesday, there was a lot more stress: three time the missionaries, two weeks to worry about it, and just me singing. I am more than a little nervous. No matter how many times I sing in front of people I still get SUPER nervous. You would think with all my practice it would get easier...alas it has not. So we will see how that goes. And to add to the fun, the Sisters Missionaries serving in the ward with me think it is funny to volunteer me for singing things. So I am singing in Sacrament meeting on the 8th and in the musical fireside that night before the Christmas Devotional and at a wedding. That's right. A wedding. There is a member of the ward getting married and she thought it would be a great idea to have the missionaries sing "Love at Home" at her wedding. There will be a large number of non-members there and she thinks it'll be a great missionary opportunity. So I got "voluntold" that I would be singing. Yay. So yeah. Lots of stress. :)

On Tuesday I went to Barrie on an exchange with Elder Thompson. We had a great time and worked super hard. I had a sweet experience contacting. I walked up to a lady who was walking her dog and started a conversation. She was really friendly and seemed open. I was going to lead in with a classic "Families can be together forever" but I felt the Spirit whisper "What are you here to talk about. Our unique message to the world is a prophet on the earth. Testify of prophets." It was clear and direct and super strong. So I did. She loved it and was really excited to meet and talk about it. We set an appointment and I haven't followed up to know how it went. But was really cool to see how the Spirit guided me and it was just what that person wanted to hear. Neat. 

On Thursday we had American Thanksgiving with a great family from Oregon. They have four ADORABLE kids all under 8. FUN!! It was a great night and super fun to be with a family for Thanksgiving. Hooray America!!

As my "spiritual thought" I would like to share an experience that I had with fasting yesterday. For the past few months, I haven't had anything really pressing to fast for. I fasted for my investigators and for general things but nothing specific. Not surprisingly I have had some mediocre fasting experiences. This week I had a concern on my mind all week. I really "wrestled" with it and could not think of a solution. So you can imagine how happy I was that it fell on a Fast Sunday. Answer=Extremely. So I fasted and prayed. I studied it out in my mind. All day people would say things that really had nothing to do with my concern but answered my questions perfectly. I ended the day with solutions and a plan to use them. It was incredible. I felt so guided and directed and learned how much God cared about me. Though my concern was small and really insignificant, my Father in Heaven helped me to figure things out. It is so great to know that He cares for me and loves me and is willing to help. What a great blessing to have. We are so lucky! So, if you have a difficult problem or concern: Take it to God. He can and will help you. All you need to do is listen. Truth.

I love you all and I hope that everything goes well.  

Love,

Elder E. Smith  

Because of the Brave

Today's post comes to you in two parts....

Happy Independence Day Everyone!!

I hope it was a splendid day for all and that you all appreciate living in such a wonderful country. We are greatly, greatly blessed.

This week was rather short seeing as I just emailed last Wednesday and there wasn't much that happened since. We had a great 4th of July. We had district meeting and sang the National Anthem and I conducted the music with my American flag. Awesome. The rest of the day was really, really warm. Because Elder Cowley is new his bus pass money didn't come in until friday and as such we had to limit our travel to save on single fare tokens. So we didn't get to drop our suit coats off at home and spent the whole hot day in our suit coats. Looked boss. Felt sweaty. Just how I like it. :) We had a day packed with teaching for the first time in a long time but two of the appointments cancelled last minute. Oh well. It was still a great day.

Friday was graced with surprise interviews with President. We were told Thursday that interviews were Friday. Those went well and the rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Just tracting and street contacting. Elder Cowley is getting back into the swing of things pretty quick. He has a little bit too much of the laid back, Australian way of missionary work that I am working out of him. Haha. Its been a fun week. We get along super great and I love him tons.

Saturday was cool. We are starting a new ESL class at a new building and it is taking quite some time for it to pick up. I didn't realize how much I dislike goofing off now until we had to sit at the chapel and wait for students who rarely show. I just feel so unproductive. My goal for tomorrow is to get something done with that time. Wish me luck. :)

Sunday was great. Jessica was confirmed and it was a super powerful experience. Elder MacMillan (who got transferred but is still in the ward) gave a beautiful blessing and the Spirit was super strong. I love to see the ordinances of salvation performed. It is always a great experience.

We witnessed/participated in a miracle this week. that I will try to explain later. I'm getting kicked off.

Love you all.

Love,

Elder Smith 

So I believe it was Wednesday night. Elder Cowley's first real day in Canada. We had finished our appointments for the night and decided to street contact until the end of the night. Convenient that there are tons of people outside our apartment at almost all times. It is pretty crazy really. As we were walking down this street, joking and laughing about of latest rejection and randomly Elder Cowley says, "We should talk to that guy." Pointing at a man a little further down the street. I don't question promptings so we made a beeline for this guy. We talked to him, he seemed pretty interested, we got his number and gave him our card. The usual. Then comes Thursday morning and we get a call from Alex, the man from the day before, calling to see if the number we gave him was active. We invited him to church and then made arrangements to ride the subway there with him. He came to church, loved it and during one of the classes he shared part of his story. He had been separated from his kids for 12 years and had been moving around for work trying to get his mind off missing them. He moved back to Toronto and began looking for a place to live. Prayed. Found an apartment. Prayed to meet good people who could help him. Talked to us on the street. Wanted to know if God still talked to His children today. Loved the Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Wants to learn more and keep coming to church. Lives in the Sisters area. Hrmpf. We're stoked because he is super prepared. We just wish we could teach him. No biggie. At least we'll see him at church.

Well that is all the time that I have and I have to go! Love you all tons and I'll talk to you next week!!

Work hard, study hard, pray hard!

Love,

Elder Smith

He is Number Four

Happy Canada Day!!!

I hope you all enjoyed the magical holiday that is Canada Day. The day here was celebrated by copious amounts of both fireworks and alcohol. My favorite part of the festivities was talking to all the grumpy, tired, hung-over people the next day. I don't think we talked to one friendly person the whole day. Okay there were a few but man, you'd think they'd learn. Guess not. :)

In other news. Tomorrow is Independence Day which is great because my new companion is also American! That means lots of national anthem singing in companion study. So yeah. I got a new companion. And by new I mean fresh out of the MTC new. But he is a little....a lot different then my last three trainees. His name is Elder Cowley and he is super sweet. He is 21 and has already served a mission. Well 6 months of a mission. He was originally called to Australia in like 2011 but came home early due to medical reasons. Like random seizures and stuff. Super crazy. He has been working on coming back for a long time and then it has finally happened. He got his reassignment June 20, was in the MTC June 24 and now he is in the field. Things happened way fast. I am super glad to have him here and I am way excited to be his companion. He is ready to work and is a great missionary. Love him already. :)

Elder MacMillan got transferred to Don Mills North so he is still in our ward, just on the North side of the boundaries. Hahaha. He literally moved like ten minutes away. So I won't really miss him because I'll see him at church and coordination meeting and we'll go on exchanges. Which is good because I like him. It was a great transfer with him and we saw a ton of miracles. This Sunday we were both able to help our friend Jessica into the waters of baptism. She hurt her ankle really severely a few months back and was EXTREMELY worried about slipping in the font so we both got in with her and made sure she was safe. She got up after the baptism and bore her testimony and she said, "I was so nervous all day about the baptism but as soon as I stepped in the water I felt so safe and all my fear was gone." She thanked us for helping her and was so very excited. ElderMacMillan will be confirming her this Sunday at church. The whole experience has been a miracle.

The week since I have emailed has been pretty eventful. On Tuesday we met with a family of four and they agreed to be baptized. It was a great lesson and the Spirit was really strong. But, Satan is very real and he worked really hard and they have decided not to learn anymore. It was really sad to get that news but we know that God's plan is perfect and that he will provide a way.

On Wednesday we stumbled upon a TV show shoot. We were visiting a woman in the hospital and there were big trucks everywhere and extras all over and hummers and military stuff and it was crazy. So watch Covert Affairs Season 4 and there might be two missionaries sauntering about it the background somewhere. I think they were done filming when we got there but you never know. :) it was pretty exciting.

The rest of the week was same old, same old but Sunday was great. Jessica's baptism went fairly smoothly but they never go according to plan. :) To add to the miracle of an ordinance being performed Helena and her daughters came to church! Helena is the Swedish woman with the two unbaptized daughters and it was a total miracle! We did not expect it at all and they loved church. Hopefully they will continue to be able to come. Please keep praying for them specifically. They need a miracle very much and are extremely deserving. Please, please pray for them.

Lindsey is doing alright. She has slipped back into old habits. We haven't met with her in a while and she hasn't been coming to church. As such the Spirit is not able to influence her and it becomes easier and easier to slip. This experience has taught me that the Spirit's influence can leave very easily and that we need to attended church, read the scriptures and keep our guard up continually. We will be meeting with her this week and hope to get her back on the path.

As for everything else, we continued to find new people and we are working hard. I feel really good right now and I am very excited for the coming weeks and the wonderful blessings they will bring.

In other extremely exciting news our mission saw miracles this month. From the time I arrived in the mission we have been praying as a mission to achieve the Standards of Excellence as a mission. That means 12 baptism a week. This has been the focus for a very very long time. As we approached 2013 we began to pray specifically for this baptismal goal as well as 60 baptisms in the month of June which would mean getting at least 12 baptisms each week. Brothers and Sisters, I am extremely excited to inform you that we reached our goal and then thrashed it. We had 78 baptisms in June!! This is historic. The highest our mission has seen in recent memory. It has been incredible to see the mission come together for this goal and to work in unity for it. It is super exciting. Miracles.

Anyway. I will end because this is long. I love this work and I love being a missionary. I would invite you all to be missionaries now. Share the gospel with those you know and with those you love. God has prepared a way for you and he has asked you, through his holy Prophet to take that path and lead others to Christ. Remember that God loves them just as much as he loves you. :) Work hard, study hard, pray hard. Do good things!!

Love,

Elder Smith

The going gets tough

You know that feeling when you walk into the washroom right after someone takes a long hot shower? When its sticky and hot and you can see them water in the air?

Yeah. Try that every time you leave the apartment. It has been wicked hot the past few days. It was 28 and humid at 8 in the morning. The temperature has hovered at 30 for the past two days and the whole week is forecast above that....Woof. And I thought that I had escaped the heat by coming to Canada. Ha.

In addition to being sweltering, this week has been brutal. We work incredibly hard and got....minimal results. I have determined that God has grown to expect much more of us now and is just waiting until we do ALL that we can to bless us. There is so much I can work on and do that I don't know where to start. I don't know if I mentioned but for the past three ish weeks my district and I have been participating in what they call "The Purification Challenge." For this challenge we start with prayer and fasting to determine a list of things we can lay on the "alter of sacrifice" in order to purify ourselves and really devote our efforts and thoughts to the work of the ministry. After the initial fast you then "fast" for 40 days, removing the things on the list from your life. Needless to say, my list was long and there was a lot of fasting to do. The challenge has promised blessing that come from it and we are definitely seeing them. Some are too sacred to share but I can feel a change in my spirit and my soul as I change myself into what God intends me to be. It has been a wonderful blessing and I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord.

As stated above this week was kinda lack luster. We busted our behinds setting up lessons with investigators, new and old alike, only to have them cancel last minute. Often when we are at the door. The most frustrating part is that we will get members to come with us and the person will cancel but when we can't find a member it will go through....grrrr! I just feel bad for essentially wasting these members time. The hardest part of this work sometimes is finding people to come with us so is stinks when they cancel on us. But, its all part of the job. I feel lucky to be serving where I am and to be learning these lessons. I would not trade my mission for anyone else's. I know that this is where I need to be and I relish these learning opportunities.

On that note of Member missionary work, I hope you ALL had the chance to watch the Work of Salvation broadcast last night. If you didn't I plead with you to watch it and to take the message that was shared to heart. This is direct revelation from our Father in Heaven to you. He is asking you and me and everyone else to step up. To sacrifice your time. To put it on the line and share this gospel. Brothers and Sisters this is the gathering of Israel and we have been called to do this work. As I watched last night I could envision the work of God rolling forth. If we would all do our part and share this gospel to all those within our sphere of influence, the building of the Kingdom would not and could not be stopped. The early Saints were asked to sacrifice everything for this gospel and all God is asking for now is a few hours a week and your love for your fellow men. God has placed people in your path for His purpose. Don't let him down.

I am very out of time. The library is super busy today so that is it! Talk to you next week!! Probably on Wednesday due to Canada Day but we'll see. Love you tons!!

Love,

Elder Smith  

The Kingdom of God or Nothing

Salaam Khubid!!

 

Impressed with my Persian skills? You should be. Haha. Jokes. I am super bad at Farsi and only pretend to know it. I convinced some Sisters at Zone Conference that I knew it but that was easy. Too easy. :)

This week was long and humbling. We had Zone Conference this week which is always super inspiring and great but always messes up the schedule. We had to move our weekly planning around and we ended up splitting it into two days. Woof. I hate to say it but I hate weekly planning. Don't get me wrong, I know how important planning is and it really is necessary but I hate sitting inside all day. It makes me feel lazy and its hard to get back to work. I feel best when we can just get outside and work and three days of sitting and planning are not my favorite.

Zone Conference was great and I loved it. We learned a ton and gained inspiration for our investigators. One of my favorite parts of missionary work is role plays because it is a time to receive revelation for investigators needs and how we can help them progress. We did a lot of role plays and I gained so much insight into how my investigators feel and what THEY need to feel and what THEY need to hear not what I think they need. It was wonderful and such a great time. I had the opportunity to share my talents and sing at this Zone Conference. I love getting the chance to use what God has given me. I neglected it before my mission and want to make up for lost time. :)

Side note: I am working on my Christ-like love for people. It is tried and tested heavily every time we come to the library to do emails. I just get sick of getting kicked off the computer so that people can play Farmville and watch Jeopardy Season 7 highlights on YouTube. I realize now more and more that the Internet is a MASSIVE waste of time. So much time just thrown away....so sad. So frustrating...okay. I'm over it. Moving on!

Despite a lack luster effort on our part we saw some sweet miracles this week. On Monday on our way home from an appointment I talked to a guy on the subway named Abey. He was super interested and asked if we had time right then and there to teach him. So we got off the train, walked up the street and sat down in a coffee shop and taught him. He said that he believed we were sent from God and that what we said was true. He accepted a return appointment and a Book of Mormon and we were so excited. He bombed his appointment and has no phone and we have no way to contact him......harrumph. I guess God just knew that we were going to be lazy that week and so he rebuked and chastened us in advance. I feel very much like the Nephites in that I am so quick to forget the many blessings of God and to take them for granted. Pride Cycled.

Tuesday and Wednesday we were a lazy due in part to planning for so long and the rest is just us being complacent. They were bad days.

Thursday was Zone Conference and it was super inspiring and we felt really good after but it took most of the day and all that spiritual fire was doused by the humidity and more weekly planning on Friday.

Friday night we got rebuked hard core by the Spirit and vowed to do better. Saturday was a real test of our strength. We got rejected again and again. The whole day was just bad.

But unfazed by the hail and storm of the adversary we soldiered through to Sunday, were 100% Obedient and got 100% blessed. We were walking down the street heading to drop by an old investigator and some guy waiting to turn at the light just started honking. I am pretty used to this and even better at ignoring it. He persisted and just waited at the light until we looked over. I made eye contact with the driver (waving frantically to get my attention)  and when he knew he had my attention he pointed at me and pointed at the side of the road and then pulled over. Needless to say, Elder MacMillan and I were a little nervous about what was about to go down but we walked over anyway. He got out of his car and asked, "Are you with the Church?!" We said yes and he said something to the affect of, "Oh good. I want to go to church and stay on the path to God. Can we meet sometime and you can teach me more?" We were in shock. Usually we pull teeth to get numbers but this guy handed us his business card and asked when we would be calling. Supa sweet. We are calling him tonight and so I guess you'll hear about it next week. :)

I am about out of time so I will finish with a funny story and some quotes.

Yesterday in Sacrament the 1st Counselor got up to conduct the meeting and he is really...dry. He is kinda awkward and irreverent and just says weird stuff. We love him. Anyway. He gets up, tells a super lame joke about fathers day and gets basically no response, maybe a pity laugh or two and then the congregation goes silent. Right then this adorable little Filipino boy erupts into hysterical laughter. The timing was PERFECT and the entire congregation bursts up too. It was great. I'm giggling just writing it. Now everyone thinks I'm crazy....oh well.

Here are a couple good quotes that have helped Elder MacMillan and I in our quest to be better missionaries.

"If you are called upon to lay down your lives: Die like men. Should you have to walk right into danger and even the jaws of death: Fear no evil. Jesus Christ has died for you." -Joseph Smith

"External service is useless where there is no devotion of heart and life"-Whoever wrote the Bible dictionary

"Elder. Are you even thinking about Jesus right now?" Jared. Our Ward Mission Leader.

I'll save some for next week. :)

I love you all and want you to know that this church is true. Christ died for you and he will always welcome you with open arms when you turn to him.

Remember. The kingdom of God or nothing.

Love,

Elder Smit

Exhausted.

Dearest Family,

Before I left on my mission Melissa gave me some good advice. She said, "If you aren't tired as a missionary, you're doing something wrong."

I'm not saying I am the best missionary ever but I am exhausted. Like really. But I don't think I've ever had as much fun. Weird how that works out eh?

This week was great! Best part about it was the weather. It has been hot and muggy or hot and rainy since I got to Toronto but this week it was pleasantly warm and sunny. Quite enjoyable. In addition we have just had a great week. Finding new people and talking with lots and lots of people, meeting really interesting people, I love Toronto! Here are fun things that happened this week in no particular order.

We were riding in the elevator after tracting a floor of an apartment building when this African family gets on. There were two little girls and they were adorable! One of them came and stood next to me and just stared at me and smiled. I smiled back and she grinned and then looked down at my arm. She stared at it for a second and then started to gently stroke my arm....weird. What makes the story more strange is that her mom just sat there and watched her....Odd. They got off and left like nothing happened and despite our efforts would not accept our invitation to learn more. All the mom did was smile and wave goodbye....Such an interesting experience.

On Monday night we taught Lindsey the Law of Chastity. This lesson is always fun to teach and always has the Spirit but this time was incredible. The whole thing was great. We felt super inspired to share it in a particular way and to bring a particular member and everything went perfectly.The Spirit bore witness extremely powerfully of the truthfulness of the words we were saying and she agreed to live it. Incredible lesson. Definitely a highlight of my mission. Teaching with the Spirit is always a wonderful experience.

On Friday we crashed the Book of Mormon play again and it was so much fun. It is also terrifying. There more than anywhere I feel the Lord's promise that "You shall not be confounded before men." While there we are very much exposed to the outside world and the heckling and rejection gets pretty heavy. But without fail, no matter what they say and how funny they think they are, I am given what to say in this "hostile venue" and I can feel the Spirit testifying through me. One moment in particular this time around caught my attention. I approached a group of older people standing around smoking and waiting to go into the play. I said something sappy and invited them to read the Book of Mormon and then it began. They started to go off on me and tell me how dumb I was and asked me why I would waste my time doing something "silly." Oh boy. What happened next I can only attribute to the Spirit and the guiding influence of our Heavenly Father. When I started speaking, I was given what to say. I bore testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the divinity of our missionary purpose. I don't remember exactly what I said but it was awesome. The most surprising part was the absolutely humbled look on the faces of this group. One man in particular seemed most touched. I gave him a Book of Mormon and told him to read and pray about its truth. Who knows if he will but he has the chance now. The whole night had experiences like that and it was sweet.

 We are working with a Less Active member Helena and her two non-member daughters, 10 and 13. The mother is from Sweden and is super nice and the daughters really want to come to church and to get baptized but the ex-husband is....a really bad guy. He just makes life miserable for the mom and won't let the girls go to church and all sorts of great things that make Christ-like love a difficult thing to have. We are hoping for a miracle and will need one. As soon as he stops being a loser, the girls will get baptized and they can move on with their lives but until then....we wait. This family needs a lot of prayers. Lots and lots.

We have been doing a lot of finding this week and it is exhausting without a car. We walk around all day long and get home and crash. Its crazy but super rewarding. We have a bunch of great investigators and one should be getting baptized soon. Her name is Jessica and she is sweet. She grew up with a lot of Mormon friends and liked them and when she was looking for a church she looked us up. She met with missionaries online and has been taught everything and is all set to get baptized she just wants to finish the Book of Mormon first and then she says she'd be ready. We have helped her to set up a reading schedule and she should finish soon and get baptized on the 30th!! Too exciting. We are really blessed to work with her.

I am so blessed to be a missionary and especially to be serving here in the Canada Toronto Mission. I love it hear and could not imagine serving anywhere else. I have learned so so much and I have grown a strong testimony of this church, this gospel and this work that we do. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything!

To close I am going to use a poem that I used in my talk in Windsor the day of transfers. The talk went really well and I was even quoted by some of the members in Gospel Doctrine soooooo I'm pretty much a big deal. :) I talked about the Good Samaritan and how we must play the role that God has asked and give our best no matter what or where that calling is. (Extremely fitting seeing as I was transferred the next day.) The poem is by Mead McGuire or something like that. I got it from a talk that I have recorded and can't just google it...:)

 

Not sure of the Title :)

 

"Father, where may I work today?"

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then He pointed out a tiny spot

And said "Tend that for me."

I answered quickly "Oh no! Not that!

Why, no one would ever see

No matter how well my work was done.

Not that little spot for me!"

And the word he spoke, no it was not stern.

He answered me tenderly.

"Ah little one, search that heart of thine.

Are you working for them or for me?

Nazareth was a little spot

And so was Galilee."

 

I hope this poem speaks to your heart like it did to mine. I invite you to ask yourself the question "Are you working for them or for me?" And for us all to do the will of Him who sent us.

Work hard, study hard, pray hard! Do good things!

Love,

Elder Smith

I got a library card!!

Hello all!!

How is everyone? I hope you are all doing extremely well and that you are all doing the greatest of things! This week has been spectacular and I really have no clue where to start.

Last week we got a media referral requesting a missionary visit but when we dropped by last Sunday she wasn't home and we couldn't meet with her. This week we did meet with her and she, her name is Marcia, was really interested and wanted to change her life. Her friend, Kristal,  was interested too so we picked up two new investigators last Tuesday. But things move extremely fast here in Toronto and by Thursday Kristal had asked us not to talk to her anymore and we lost contact with Marcia. She isn't answering her phone or texts or anything. Sigh. Satan.

Also on Tuesday we got a random text from a random number which turned out to be a former investigator that wanted to learn more again. He texted us and asked what God wanted him to do and we set an appointment and met with him. His name is Kevin and he is sweet. He is extremely prepared and very concerned with following the Spirit. He just wants to do God's will. He has cancelled an appointment since and wasn't at church but we still have high hopes for him. Pray for him!

Tuesday night we did something SUPER fun. The Book of Mormon play is showing in Toronto and so every night that it plays twocompanionships from our zone go and hand out copies of the Book of Mormon to people going into the show. Crazy. There were a lot of people and we handed out tons of copies. We got really into it and started yelling carnival style, "Get your Book of Mormon here! Seeing the play? Why not read the book?" A lot of people didn't believe we were real missionaries, thought we were handing out playbills, and took pictures with us. It was awesome. We are hoping to get to go again and to talk to more people. It was so much fun.

The rest of the week was just busy trying to find people and to teach the people we already found. Lots and lots of work to do and so many people who need this gospel....now if we could only get them to realize it. :)

Other highlights: -Lindsey quit smoking and is doing great. She still wants to get baptized but she isn't sure when. She loves the church and the Book of Mormon she just has a lot of anxiety about what other people think. Sigh. Women. ;)

-We went to the craziest store ever to get some things for the Stop Smoking Workshop that we do as missionaries. The store is called Honest Ed's and it is so cool. It sells everything you can think of and for super cheap. Seriously everything. Its huge and crazy and confusing. The catchphrase is "Come in and GET LOST!" I assure you. I got very lost. If anyone ever visits Toronto put Honest Ed's on the list. That is about it for this week.

My spiritual thought this week comes from Elder Chirstofferson's talk from the last General Conference.

"Inasmuch as we follow Christ, we seek to participate in and further His redemptive work. The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ through faith and repentance so they may experience His Redemption—peace and joy now and immortality and eternal life in the world to come. The work of our missionaries is a magnificent expression of the Lord’s redeeming love. As His authorized messengers, they offer the incomparable blessings of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, opening the way to spiritual rebirth and redemption." 

I want to highlight the phrase "The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ" Our purpose as children of God, who have the knowledge that we have, is to share that knowledge and to lift others along the way. We are here to helps others. That is our calling as missionaries and as children of God. We have a divine mandate to bring others with us. There are people who we have been called to help, inside our family and out and God is counting on us to help them. Do not let God down. Live true to the knowledge that you have received.

I love you all and I hope all is well. Work hard, have fun and do good things!!

Love,

Elder E. Smith 

Subway Eat Fresh!!

Greetings.

I have very little time.

The library wouldn't give me a card because apparently my proof of address was insufficient...Apparently this is a high security library. As such I have a short time left. Yay.

This week was awesome. I am super loving this city and this area. We ride the subway everyday and everywhere and there is ALWAYS someone to talk to. I am losing my bubble pretty fast. It is a very fast-paced city and the work here is too. We have a few pretty solid investigators and I only know one of them. The rest have been busy and we will meet them this week. Yay. The one that I know is Lindsey. She is a single mom and is extremely nice. She reads the Book of Mormom every night and loves it. She texts us ALL THE TIME and asks us questions about scriptures and prayers and just random things. It is awesome. She is doing very well and will probably be baptized pretty soon. Super exciting  Apparently we have two other really solid investigators but we still haven't met them...how solid they actually are will be discussed in next weeks email.

I love being a missionary so much. I love this gospel and the things that it teaches. The more I study and learn about this gospel the more I know that it is true. There is nothing that brings more happiness than this gospel and I know for a fact that it is true. You cannot deny the light in a persons eyes when they understand their divine potential and that Heavenly Father loves them. I love sharing that with these people and telling the world that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. What a marvelous blessing! Never lose sight of the blessings that we have received as members of this church. It is too great to be overlooked and forgotten.

I love you all. Work hard, study hard, pray hard! Do good things!

Love,

Elder Smith.

Greetings from Toronto!

So.....I got transferred. 

I left my beloved Windsor behind and left to the Big City. Hogtown. The Big T. Toronto. Woo!

I am now serving in the Don Mills South area. My area is right next to the downtown area and covers the part of the city they call "The Danforth" thusly named for the street that runs through it, changes to Bloor Street, and then into downtown Toronto. We live at Danforth and Main and it is awesome. Lots of people and lots to do. Exciting. Oh and we are whitewashing which means my companion and I are both new to the area. 

My new companion is Elder MacMillan. He is sweet! He is from Calgary, Alberta. Until recently he was serving as a Farsi Missionary. He was in my first district when I served in Richmond Hill East and I love him to death already. Elder Hunt, from Richmond Hill West is also here and I love him lots. He is back in Korean work and he comes to our ward sometimes. Good!  

So I left Elder Warner in the hads of Elder Dewey and last I heard they are doing well. Sad to leave him. 

Well. I'm out of time.

I had a great study this morning. I read 2 Nephi 2 and it was great. I really learned alot. The whole chapter talks about how righteousness is the only way to happiness. When I realized this I saw verse 25 in a new light. If Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy, and joy is happiness, and happiness is righteousness then men are that they might be righteous. Game Changer. 

Work hard, Read the scriptures, do good things!

Love,

Elder E. Smith

My new Address!!
265 Main St. 1709-C 

Toronto, ON M4C 1L5

Hello....again.

I just talked with you yesterday. For the sake of those of you who weren't there here is a quick recap. 

I am doing well. Linda was a church again and everything is set for them to get married in a week or two. As soon as Mark gets paid he is "putting a ring on it." Success. 

It was a fairly uneventful week otherwise. No new investigators. No crazy people. Just a pretty average week. We bike all the time now that it is nice out. We are working with a lot of Less Actives now. We have approximately 120 active members in our ward and 550 names on the records....We have our work cut out for us for sure. It is extremely overwhelming at times but with the Spirit's guidance it becomes manageable. Experience: I wasn't sure what to plan during our daily planning session one night so I took a minute and prayed to know what to do. Right then the name and face of one the members of our ward popped into my head. He hasn't been to church in a long time and we met with him once but he didn't keep our return appointment. I was a little surprised to think of him but went with it. When we visited him the next day he let us in and told us that last night he felt a "calling" to read the Book of Mormon and to return to church. We couldn't have shown up at a better time. The Spirit will guide us when we ask for it. 

Now for things I somehow forgot to mention yesterday. 

Al, now Brother Russell, got the preisthood yesterday!! It was such a cool moment. He is a hometeacher now and they are working on a calling. Super sweet to see. 

Mark, the soon to be husband of the soon to be baptized Linda, is a painter (along with a number of other things) and he has given me a beautiful painting of some mountians that he painted just for me. It is sweet and I just need to find a way to send it home....

That is all. Transfers are this week. Again. We'll see how that goes. The ward thinks I'm out of here because I have been here for....ever. We'll see. I love this area and this ward. I will be very sad to go. 

Love you all. Work hard. Eat right. Do good things!

Love,

Elder E. Smith

"Life isn't always as crispy as you expect it to be" - Elder Smith

DISCLAIMER: The subject line of this letter has very little to do with the actual happenings of this week. This week was, in fact, quite crispy. Thanks.

Hello!

First item of business! Winter is officially over and I am already officially sick of the heat! I need to work on loving the heat because at this point it makes me miserable. I got like triple sunburned this week with all the walking around we do. Hence the "crispy" week. Not fun. With the change in the weather, Windsor is a completely different city. During the winter it was cold, dark, and dead. People were more grouchy than not and there were few people outside of UofW campus and the Downtown area. Now that the weather is warm there are people EVERYWHERE. Downtown is packed. There are even hot-dog stands on the street corners! People are just out on their porch, usually drunk, but willing to chat. It is a completely different place. I guess they still have the familiar Windsor attitude but at least they smile when they tell us to get lost. :) I love it here. 

This week was fairly normal until Saturday. On Saturday we had an exchange with the Zone Leaders which is always a grand time. While they were here we changed the way the area was split a little and in that we gave up a sweet new investigator named Logan. We tracted into him a month or so ago and at the time he was super busy in his last semester of school and said to call him after exams. We called him a couple times, left a message and I was resigned to the fact that he wasn't as neat as we thought he was. To my surprise he called us Saturday night and asked for the Church address and said he was going to be there. It was sweet. He came it was wonderful and it wasn't until halfway through sacrament that I realized that he was now in the South Elders' area. :) If he wasn't we would have hit standards two weeks in a row but I am willing to give him up to help the South Elders out because they are struggling right now. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. Am I right? Sad but happy. Souls coming to Christ are always happy. 

On Saturday afternoon, Elder De Moura (from Fortaleza, Brazil and my hero) and I had a lesson scheduled with a Persian Pentecostal Pastor. On our way to the meeting, I stopped a guy on the street. He frankly told me no, he was a Christian and he didn't need to learn more. The usual. We went on to our meeting and it was...awful. The Pastor's English was almost unintelligible and he was EXTREMELY passionate about the Bible. After about twenty minutes of him yelling at us in half English about how we were wrong, the guy who had rejected me on the street walks up. He introduces himself and informs us that he is a Baptist seminary student and that he'd like to hear what we have to say. We started teaching a lesson but both of them kept asking what Elder Warner calls "Twinkie Questions." They are all fluff and just make you fat (or in my case angry.) This turns into a bashing session and just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, a Bible-thumping Ethiopian man asks if he too could join our conversation. So there we were in a coffee shop, getting yelled at by three extremely passionate people, being told we were wrong and trying our best to control the situation. After an hour and a half of this nonsense, Elder De Moura told them all to stop and asked them what, in there opinion, was required for salvation. All gave their answers (except the Pastor. He couldn't understand the question) and then Elder De Moura said, "According to your doctrine Mormons are saved. You can't be upset with us for trying to hard to be saved. Have a nice day." We gave them our card and left. It was crazy. Bible bashing makes me super angry and I hate it. It was a good thing that Elder De Moura was there or it wouldn't have ended well. :)  What fun.

My investigators are great. Linda FINALLY came to church on Sunday and I about died with surprise. She loved it and said she'll be back. We are working on a marriage date and then its into the water.:) Nothing else super exciting happened otherwise but overall a great week!

My testimony of the truth of this church was strengthened so much this week. After the bash on Saturday I did not feel the Spirit. I felt angry and afraid and contentious and it was awful. As the day continued, each time I prayed and refocused I felt the Spirit return. The contention had driven the Spirit away but prayer brought it back. It was incredible to feel the Spirit return and to feel that happiness the gospel brings. I love it. I love being a missionary. 

Well. Love you all. Hope everything is well. Do good things!

Love,

Elder Smith

AH! No time!!!

Hello!

So once upon a time, Elder Paul V. Johnson from the Quorum of the Seventy is touring our mission! Yay! Which means we got to receive training and instruction and all sorts of wonderful stuff from a servant of God! Yay! They didn't ask me to sing this time so someone else finally got the chance! Yay! That all happened yesterday so today is Preparation Day! Yay! Which means that our family history library where we normally do our emails is open to the public and thus we can't use it....not yay. Luckily we still have the regular old Library but they only give us one hour....Super not yeah. I have a hard enough time already. Sigh. Such is life. 

The week was really great and things are finally picking up. Contrary to my assumptions, the semester ending did not bring back our investigators. They are all going home for the summer. Well not all but most. The missionaries here in the Fall will be happy with us. You're welcome. But at the rate I am getting transferred I might still be here. I am alright with that. I love it here in Windsor and I left our Zone Conference ready to start the work with new energy and ideas. That's always nice. Good things to come here in Windsor. 

As stated above, the week was great. Super, super stressful but really great. We'll start with the bad news and then work our way to the good stuff. :)
So, in my assignment as District Leader, I am "in charge" of a group of missionaries and I am responsible for their welfare. Without going into any details really, there was some serious disobedience that occurred within my district and so much of my time and energy went into working that out. Not a fun experience at all. We got it mostly sorted out and improvements are being made which is really great. I love these missionaries and when stuff like this happens it just breaks my heart. To all those serving, about to serve or thinking about it: Please, please, please be obedient. I promise you that it is NOT worth it. Moving on :)    

Now to the good stuff. We found two new investigators this week:Valerie and Wayne. Valerie is in her 20's and is really searching for truth. She had a conversation about the church with one of the YSA members working at the hospital and it peaked her interest. She tried to come to church on GC weekend but left because she was two hours early. We finally got a meeting set up with her and she is doing great. She came to church Sunday, really enjoyed it and wants to come back. I am so grateful for this member who was willing to share the gospel. I think we shy away from it too much. We have a glorious blessing and we should want to share it with everyone. Share the Gospel!!          

Wayne was a referral from a member in Detroit. He is in his late 60's/early 70's and he is sweet. His brother was a Catholic Monk who found a Book of Mormon, read it four time and then called the missionaries to baptize him about ten years ago. He (the brother) is very intent on getting his whole family into the church. When we met with Wayne he told us that he's "not a Mormon..yet. We'll see what you can do." :) He is great and we expect good thing from him. 

I think I mentioned this last week but Linda is getting achingly close to the font. Mark has decided its time and we took them on a church tour on Saturday and it went very well and they said they would come to church. That morning we called them to remind them and to see if they were coming and Mark said that they'd come if it didn't rain because they ride the bus and didn't want to get wet and then sick. As soon as I hung up the phone I started praying that it wouldn't rain and didn't stop until Ward Council and then picked right back up while we waited for Sacrament to start. It rained. They didn't come. Sigh.  
But! Valerie and Albert (Shawna's little brother) and Khosi showed up!! It was great. I feel like we hadn't had an investigator at sacrament in ages. Khosi came out of no where. Missionaries have been working with him and his Less-Active mom for about a year now and they just showed up this week. Miracles happen. Just not the ones we expect. 

The conference yesterday was super inspiring and great and I wish I could say everything that was great but highlights are:
"We aren't after baptisms, we're after conversions."
"Don't be weird! You're here to build character, not be a character."- On how to be a good missionary and get referrals from members. 
"That's dumb!"-On thinking you won't make it to the Celestial Kingdom or aren't good enough.
It was great and that is all I can think of off the top of my head. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week and kill your exams! Work hard, study hard, pray hard! Do the best things!
Love,
Elder Smith
PS Last week we went out for Sushi with the other Elders in Windsor and it was SOOOOO good. I never thought that I would like it but it was super awesome.     

Greetings!

Hello!

This week has been...ummmm....slow is the only word that I can think of to describe it. We keep setting appointments only to have them cancel last second or just not answer the door. It hurts. This week, more than ever, the rejection as felt very personal. Like they are rejecting me and not just my message. I keep telling Elder Warner, "This is what separates the boys from the men." I just hope I turn out to be man enough to continue on. But as always there are rays of hope that keep us going. 

I am practicing tough love with Elder Warner. He is super shy and so I am breaking down his shell. For the first week, when he would turn to me with the deer in the headlights look, the fear obviously evident on his face, I would step in and help him out. This week, as heart breaking as it is, I have been throwing him quite abruptly into the deep end. It reminds me of Dad teaching us how to swim. We would spend a day or so learning how to doggy paddle and tread water, learning the basics and then he would lead us, like lambs to the slaughter, to the deep end to "see what it looks like." Ha. Then he would throw us in. It wasn't the gentlest of means but I'll tell you what, you learn to swim pretty quick. I've been doing it with Elder Warner and it has worked. We went tracting on Saturday and there were a couple doors that were pretty rough and I almost stepped in but didn't. After two particularly trying doors I was about to give him a break but told him to do one more. He knocked on the door, gave his approach and.........the lady was super nice, let us in, and we are going back next week! It was a relief to see that his work paid off. What a champ. I have nick-named him Elder "Can't Be Stopped" Warner. I don't use it because we aren't supposed to use nick-names but I think its pretty great. I called Elder Binford: Pokey. I'm a nick name wizard. :)

The rest of the week was pretty slow but we did make some progress with Linda! Mark has decided that it is time to get married and that he won't stand in the way. This has been the problem since day one. We had a plan to teach about prophets and some other commandments but I felt inspired to teach the Plan of Salvation. As we taught, I think the reality of the plan sunk in for Mark. That Linda couldn't get baptized until they were married and that if she isn't baptized she can't progress in this life. He stopped us mid lesson, out of the blue and said "You know what boys, I'm ready. I'm not going to stand in the way anymore. Linda, I will marry you."
            I was shocked. Ladies and Gentlemen. Miracles happen. 

I am doing well, loving mission life and really enjoying my studies. I recently finished the Book of Mormon and decided that this time as I read through that I would really study it. I have been reading a chapter a day and I have been astounded at the amount of things I am learning. There are stories and principles in the first five chapters I swear weren't there before. They have taught me a ton about leadership and how to help others to be obedient. It has been great. My favorite has been 1 Nephi 2:16-18. Nephi prays to know if what the prophet (his father) said is true. He gains a witness and the FIRST thing he does is tell his family. Sam believes his words and Laman and Lemuel don't. He rejoices with Sam and prays for Laman and Lemuel. It is a perfect type of member missionary work especially recent converts. I truly love the Book of Mormon and my testimony grows everyday that it was written for our time. I would urge all of you to read and I promise that you will find counsel and for your life. The answers are in the book. :)

Love you all. Work hard and do good things!!

Love,

Elder Smith

P.S. Feel free to email me! easton.smith@myldsmail.net I would love to hear from anyone and everyone!

Luvs!

Hello Family and Friends!

Hello (Canadian for Hello)

I hope you are having a wonderful week! Remember that you are all children of God and that He loves and cares for you! There are so many people in this world who don't know or understand this simple truth. Hold this dear to your hearts and never, ever forget. We are his children and He loves us. What a blessing this knowledge is!

This week was good. The hastening of God's work has slowed down a bit which is good because I felt like I couldn't keep up for a while there. But the work moves forward and the truth is marching on. It is a great time to be a missionary! Good news! While I was in Brampton picking up my new companion I got a chance to talk to the senior couple who replaced me in Midland. I had a freak out session as we talked about the success in the branch. Over the past few months they have had probably like 6 or 7 baptisms and I was excited to ask them who. Turns out that I had a hand in all of them. Marguerite, who got baptized right before I left, is doing great. She has since brought her mother and her daughter into the church and her husband and son in law are well on their way. They also baptized a family that we tried for ages to contact and were never able to teach. It was so nice to see them and to talk about how things are going. I expressed thanks to them for taking care of the branch and they expressed thanks to me for "laying the foundation." It was very nice to hear that my work was appreciated. Not necessary, but very welcome.

The work here is going well and we are keeping up. My new companion is Elder Warner! He is from Taylorsville, Utah and is 18! He is super great. He reminds me a bit of Ryan Rupper. Similar interests, same shy-ness but the same unconquerable spirit and willingness to do what needs done. It has been a fun past few days. We tried out our bikes. We had one bike that worked for a while but recently acquired a new one from a member who moved. So through a serendipitous series of events we found some helmets and we were off. It is hard stuff. My rear-end is incredibly sore and I am tired but it is fun. Just a little taste of what most missionaries go through. My heart goes out to them. I like my bus. We used the bikes only a little due to weather and a chain issue on one of the bikes. We are getting Elder Warner his bus pass today so we'll use the bikes sparingly.

We are meeting with Shawna's friend and it has been really great. Her name is Kelsey and she has little belief in God. She was raised in a rough home and seeing the gospel change her already is amazing. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and her eyes lit up as we talked. The simple knowledge that we are children of God is a life changing truth. I am excited to see where it goes.

I am loving the work still. I am loving training again. Its selfish but I always learn so much as a trainer and that is one of the reasons I love it so much. :) Good things are happening and it is sweet to see. I will leave you with a spiritual thought that I read this morning in Personal Study.

Proverbs 25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

Often, especially as missionaries, we feel that the rules or commandments limit our freedom and restrict us. We feel that God is telling us what to do, holding us back or limiting our rights. This need for freedom and thoughts that we know what we're doing lead us to break the rules and guidelines set for us by our loving Heavenly Father. But when we break these rules we break down the walls that protect us from the adversary and we lose the protection of the Spirit. When we keep the commandments and follow the guidelines we build up walls that protect us from the world and lay up in store the blessings in heaven. We may feel that rules restrict us and take away our freedom but in reality, they set us free from the bonds of sin and the influence of Satan. Listen to God. He knows what he is doing. 

Work hard, study hard, pray hard. Build a good foundation. Feed the right wolf. Do good things!

Love,

Elder E. Smith